By PTI
CANNAN: Eight residents of a nursing home in Connecticut have died during a coronavirus outbreak while 89 residents and employees have tested positive for the disease, nursing home officials say.
The outbreak at the Geer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Canaan began Sept.30, chief executive Kevin O’Connell and nursing director Cady Bloodgood said in a statement Friday.
The eight residents who died had serious health problems, according to the officials.
Those who tested positive included 67 residents and 22 staff members.
The officials said 48 residents and 21 employees have recovered.
O’Connell told the Republican-American there were no infections at the nearby Geer Lodge, an independent and assisted living center on the campus.
He and Bloodgood said virus testing continues biweekly.
“While we must continue with COVID-19 prevention protocols, we want to assure everyone we are doing our best to keep residents and staff safe,” they said.
The nursing home, which houses 82 residents, has suspended in-person visitation, but virtual and window visits can be arranged.
The latest state report on coronavirus infections in nursing homes released Friday said there were 45 confirmed cases among residents and 54 confirmed cases among staff members throughout Connecticut between Oct.27 and Nov.9.
Three residents died.
The government on Friday directed nursing homes to open their doors wide to visitors, easing many remaining pandemic restrictions while urging residents, families and facility staff to keep their guard up against outbreaks.
The new guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instructs nursing homes to allow visits at all times for all residents.
Facilities will no longer be able to limit the frequency and length of visits, or require advance scheduling.
Although large groups of visitors are discouraged, nursing homes won’t be allowed to limit the number of loved ones and friends who can pay a call on residents.
Many states and communities are still grappling with COVID-19 surges driven by the aggressive delta variant, but the most recent government data show that cases among residents and staff have continued to decline after rising earlier in the summer and fall.
Nationally, vaccination rates average 86 per cent for nursing home residents and 74 per cent for staff, although that can vary dramatically from state to state and facility to facility.
Many nursing homes are rushing to provide booster shots for their residents.
Staffers were recently required by the government to get vaccinated.
This “gets us the closest to pre-pandemic visitation that we’ve ever been since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Jodi Eyigor, director of nursing home quality and policy for LeadingAge, an industry group that represents nonprofit facilities.
“But it doesn’t mean that the pandemic is over and that COVID is not circulating,” Eyigor added.
“The nursing homes, the residents and their loved ones are all going to have to work together to make sure that visits are occurring and they are occurring safely.”
The federal guidance draws a line on visits by people who have tested positive for COVID or meet the criteria for quarantine.
Nursing homes should not allow COVID-positive visitors to enter.
But residents can still receive visits if their facility is in the midst of an outbreak investigation or if they themselves are under special precautions to prevent COVID transmission.
In such cases, residents and visitors must wear masks and protective gear.
It was unclear Friday how the new federal guidance would work with local and state requirements that may be more restrictive.
People in long-term care facilities have borne a cruel toll from the pandemic.
They represent about 1 per cent of the US population, but accounted for roughly in 3 in 10 deaths.
The ravages of COVID were compounded by enforced isolation.
Nursing homes went on lockdown in March of last year and residents were unable to see their loved ones in person until early this spring.
Meanwhile, a federal court declined Friday to lift its stay on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers.
The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay last Saturday of the requirement by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that those workers be vaccinated by Jan.4 or face mask requirements and weekly tests.
Lawyers for the Justice and Labor departments filed a response Monday in which they said stopping the mandate from taking effect will only prolong the COVID-19 pandemic and would “cost dozens or even hundreds of lives per day.”
But the appeals court rejected that argument Friday.
Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt wrote that the stay “is firmly in the public interest.”
“From economic uncertainty to workplace strife, the mere specter of the Mandate has contributed to untold economic upheaval in recent months,” Engelhardt wrote.
At least 27 states have filed legal challenges in at least six federal appeals courts after OSHA released its rules on Nov.4.
The federal government said in its court filings Monday that the cases should be consolidated and that one of the circuit courts where a legal challenge has been filed should be chosen at random on Nov.16 to hear it.
Administration lawyers said there is no reason to keep the vaccine mandate on hold while the court where the cases ultimately land remains undetermined.
